MADreads

Truth in fantasy

September 10th, 2009 Kathleen - Monroe Street

After reading Gene Luen Yang’s award-winning graphic novel American Born Chinese and Derek Kirk Kim’s award-winning Same Difference & Other Stories this past spring, I was very excited to read The Eternal Smile: Three Stories The Eternal Smile is a collaborative effort published this year through First Second Books in which Yang contributed the text while Kim provided the illustrations.  Together, these two create a work that is divided into three stories that involve fantasy worlds as an escape from the humdrum or painful reality of existence in some way or another.  And very much like the stories within Yang’s American Born Chinese, each story has an unexpected twist that manages to give an entirely new dimension and meaning.

In the first story Duncan’s Kingdom, Duncan is a young knight who is out to win the hand of the beautiful princess by avenging her father’s death and obtaining the head of his killer, the Frog King.  Through his relationship with Brother Patchwork, he obtains a sword and ends up successfully beheading the Frog King, thereby winning the hand of the beautiful princess.  Yet during the ceremony, a bird flies overhead with the Frog King’s “Snappy Cola” in its talons and the entire story shifts to a completely different reality.

In The Eternal Smile, Grandpa Greenbax, a power hungry frog, is constantly in search of the profitable money making adventure in order to build up his “pool o’ cash”.  Filbert, Grandpa Greenbax’s right hand man, at one point takes Grandpa Greenbax to the “eternal smile” floating in the clouds in the middle of the desert as a means of calming Greenbax down.  Still, Grandpa Greenbax suddenly realizes that such a strange and mysterious spectacle is enough to build a religion on, and hence, a money making escapade indeed!  However, after initial success, his plans go awry and he is thrown into a fit of uncontrollable rage.  It is at this point that the story takes a totally unexpected turn, and everything the reader thinks about the world of Grandpa Greenbax is completely turned on its head.

In the final story Urgent Request, Janet, a frumpy drone at a tech company, answers a Nigerian scam e-mail to liven up her drab personal and professional life.  She creates a fantasy relationship with Prince Henry Alembu, exchanging several emails and sending him almost her entire life savings.  Finally, upon a final request from Henry, she requests that they meet, and this proceeds into a series of events that reveals that Janet is not as blatantly naïve as the reader thinks.

Along with Yang’s storytelling, Kim’s drawings for each story are executed in entirely different styles ranging from bright cartoonish figures to light watercolor panels, giving each story a special visual feel.  I highly recommend this book to both graphic novel and non-graphic novel enthusiasts as an example of how unique this genre is becoming in terms of both subject matter and aesthetic value.  Check it out!

Entry Filed under: Graphic Novel, Young Adult